My goal this trip was to do hikes that I thought would be fun for our kids.
First up was the Pedestal Rocks Trail.
It does have fun rock formations and beautiful views but it ended up being too long of a hike there and back before you got to those things.
At around 2.5 miles it was not bad at all but several of my kids got bored with the hike.
Stick bugs everywhere.
There are several places to go down and see the rocks closer up.
Beautiful views.
This would be an amazing sunrise or sunset hike.
We planned to drive the scenic byway 7 after this up to Lost Valley Trail.
It is an amazing trail that I thought the kids would enjoy but when we got there it was crazy crowded and no pets were allowed on the hike so we decided to not go.
The kids and Nick went into the Elk Educational Center while we were in Ponca.
Boxley Valley is nearby and is a great place to look for Elk but you have a better chance of seeing them in the morning or evening and we were there mid day.
We always have something not work our quite as planned so I just tried to look at this as the fail for the trip and move on.
The next day we went to Alum Cove Natural Bridge.
This ended up being a fast payoff and the kids had a lot of fun.
The bridge is on a mile loop that has caves and lots of up and down so the kids were happier with this hike.
If I had it to do again I would have tried to do the scenic drive near sunrise or sunset and would have definitely done the 1st hike near then.
I think the kids enjoyed our campground the most though!
It was just such a fun place to explore they would have been happy doing that most of the day!
And then you proceed into the campground and are greeted by lots of information on flash flooding and escape plans…
They loved all the adventures to be had there and I loved the beauty.
If this campground was not already fantastic enough the kids and Nick found this amazing stream behind it.
There are no amenities and only vault toilets but it is such a beautiful place I could have stayed there for weeks.
